Gotta Be Kidding
by CallXMeXFlame
Summary: Kimblee knows he's alone, and it's never given him the slightest trouble. That was before he looked into those eyes. First season. Main character is OC, but no one else. Martel/Greed for  a particular lover ;  Rated T cuz I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

Solf J. Kimbley, the Crimson Alchemist, a name feared by society as the man who went insane in Ishval, but helped end the war, then turned and killed a few fellow soldiers when they tried to end his path of destruction. He was the man avenging death when he was to be executed and somehow made an escape, and again in Laboratory 5. He was a man no one could manage nor destroy.

"What are you waiting for, Kimbley? Blow her face off already." Greed demanded, scratching the back of his head in planning his next move once this officer was out of the way. Kimbley's hand was inches away from the woman officer's glaring face, her gray eyes penetrating into his while she waited for the end. _Go on, Kimbley. What kind of threat am I to you? I'm ready to die. Do it, _she screamed at him in her head. What was taking so long? Kimbley's hand suddenly pulled away.

"Hell, Dorochet, why don't you take the honor?" Dorochet blinked in confusion. "What? But you love doing this stuff." Kimbley shrugged. "I'm not into doing this one. Why don't you just get it over with? Martel, maybe?" There was just enough time for Martel to put on a confused face similar to Dorochet's before the officer grabbed her pistol and began firing at Kimbley.

Greed shoved Kimbley aside, taking the shots, and his skin quickly regenerated. The officer stood and took a step back in shock of the sight, firing a few more shots, trying to get a slice on Martel or Dorochet, but Greed deflected the shots using a portion his Ultimate Shield. Greed then shoved Kimbley at the officer, his alchemically-charged hands brushing past her arm, searing the sleeve of the uniform in an instant and exploding a good seven five circle of flesh down almost to the bone.

Falling the knees and letting out a scream of agony, the furious officer watched the seven wanted criminals make a run for it. The last thing that officer saw before they disappeared was the look of horror on Kimbley's face before Greed dragged him back into the midst of the forest.

"My word, what happened to you?" the nurse shrieked upon the arrival of the lady officer. "A run-in with Solf Kimbley. I could do with some painkillers, miss." she retorted through clenched teeth. The sensation of flesh burning nearly to the bone was a sensation she would strongly prefer not having to cope with. "Oh! Yes, of course! Please sit, and we'll have you drugged and the wound cleaned." the nurse told her as she pulled a wheelchair out from behind the counter. The woman officer nodded and took her seat, soon to be wheeled away to a separate room.

"The cleaning will be painful if we don't give you morphine first." the nurse murmured as she placed the sticky material around the needle in her arm to keep it in place while she inj1ected the drugs. After just a few moments, the lady officer sighed in relief as the morphine took it's course to numb the whole arm. The nurse nodded and carefully picked up the injured arm and dosed it with water before spreading some kind of medicated cream onto the wound. Once it was done, she carefully wrapped two layers of bandage around the burn.

"The skin around the worst of it will have second to third degree burns, and your arm will need a long time and perhaps an operation in order to heal. Until it is all said and done, you won't see any action, miss. For the records, may I have your name?" "Second Lieutenant Sophia Morst," she breathed and closed her eyes. She was going to miss work.

She was able to go home that evening, but had to check in every other morning. After test results came back, Sophia was relieved that the burns had stayed to a second degree; it meant that she could resume work with only scars, but it entailed that the scars would be nasty ones. After only her second check-in, however, something terrible happened.

There was a raid at HQ, and apparently it was Kimbley an his gang. The hospital attached to the building went up in flames... and Sophia was there to witness it all. Sitting up straight in her bed, she got out of the sheets just as a medical cabinet came crashing down on top of her, the back of it beginning to catch fire. Pushing the giant object off of her, she caught sight of a small child looking around in horror. Acting quickly, she took the child patient in her arms and ran toward the front door of the hospital, fire engulfing her surroundings and threatening to burn both her and the sobbing child to charcoal. In the mess, Sophia's bandages were singed and soon caught fire, so she had to rip the material from around her arm and cover the exposed wound with her hand.

With the door caught fire, Sophia punched a hole in a window and, holding the child close, jumped out, glass cutting deep into her arms and her fist too many times to count. Sophia sprinted out of the burning building and was able to give the child back to his mother before launching into motion again to check on Head Quarters.

The building was labeled too dangerous to enter- no surprise by looking at the dis-configured heap. Running alongside it, Sophia moved as fast as she could to the back of the building. It was her duty to see her fellow soldiers' safety, and she knew there would be another way out on the opposite side of the building, so if she could just get to it, she may be able to help some escape the scene.

Suddenly, a portion of the wall exploded right before Sophia's eyes, and she was knocked backwards and just barely into the trees behind her. She knew that reaction all too well- it was Kimbley's work. Sophia could only do so much as to crawl behind a thick tree while Greed, Kimbley, and some other figures walked out of the smoke.

Trying her best not to cough, Sophia checked herself over for wounds. From the explosion, some traces of skin were gone, leaving a red tissue to show underneath on her face and hands, her coat also taking part in the explosion, and also receiving slices in the jump through the window. Pulling glass shards from her arms, she realized that she was losing quite a bit of blood. Looking back on her trail here, she spotted traces of blood drops leading to her current hiding place.

She cursed under her breath and tried to make out what the criminals behind her were discussing, but it was blurry. That's when she realized what could have happened when that whole cabinet, filled with folders and a number of solid and heavy objects; a minor concussion, maybe? It would make since- the world was getting blurry fast, and it was hard to keep her head up. Her eyelids seem to gain a few pounds, and after many tempting offers, she finally closed her eyes and turned a blind eye to the entire situation elapsing behind her.

The last thing she thought was, _Whoever finds me is going to be awful confused, considering there's no entrance on this side of the building.._. She vaguely heard a voice say behind her, "Go on ahead. I need to check something." right before the darkness engulfed her.

Sophia slowly rose from unconsciousness what couldn't have been more than seven minutes later, contrary to what she'd previously thought. However, when she did wake, she thought she still had to be trapped in some strange dream, because the scene in front of her was simply too out of place to be real. It was Solf J. Kimbley, kneeling in front of her, with her propped up to be sitting and leaning back on a tree.

Following his gaze, she found him to be wrapping a bandage he must have taken from the hospital around her burned arm. Looking to her left, Sophia soon saw that he'd done the same to her other arm, where she had been badly cut. She hadn't the strength to resist.

"What on Earth... are you doing?" she questioned warily, but in a tired voice. "Covering up a mistake," was Kimbley's response. "Why? Why didn't you kill me before?" she inquired. It was a question that had been troubling her for the longest time. He'd killed men, women, children, even his comrades and higher-ups, so why not her?

"You remind me of someone else I know. Besides, if I blew your pretty face up, then I wouldn't be able to look at it anymore, now wouldn't that be upsetting?" Sophia blinked in confusion. _I suppose if I had accidentally shot someone who reminded me of my sister or something, maybe I'd look back at them in horror as well, _she considered as she watched him finish up the bandage. He then stood up, tossed the roll of bandages and caught it again.

"I think I'll be keeping this, just in case you get yourself nearly killed again." Sophia glared at him. "You do know you're responsible for all of this, right?" she retorted, putting a hand on her wounded arm, just to remind him. Kimbley's cocky grin disappeared just before he did.

Kimbley's POV~~

In the Devil's Nest, I kinda lost track of Martel and Greed- probably in some _other _room. Whatever. "Something up, Kimbley?" I heard Dorochet's voice call from behind a counter. He was probably grabbing a beer.

"Could you kill your sister?" I asked lamely, sitting on a barrel and staring at a poster. "What? Of course not!" "Even if she was trying to kill you?" I inquired. There was a moment's silence. "There's no time to think in a battlefield, Dorochet. You gonna kill her or not?" I remarked, turning to see him glaring at the counter in concentration. "No. I wouldn't. No way," he answered in chopped sentences. I smirked.

"Really? Even if the boss ordered you to?" "I couldn't kill my sister if I wanted to. Not a chance. I'd find a way out of it." _Great. If he sees me like this he'll tell the boss I'm going soft. _I stared him in the eye with an evil look. "Well that's touching. The softening Dorochet has a weakness." Dorochet pounded his fist on the table. "That's not true! I just couldn't kill my family!" I stood up, casually sliding my hands in my pockets and starting to head out. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." I took a stroll outside.

The air was crisp, suiting the cool Fall evening. Tilting my hat to hide my face, I watched people hurriedly crossing the streets of the deserted town, all heading for their own warm homes. _And what about me?Where am I headed? _I thought tiredly. Taking a seat on the outside portion of a restaurant, my thoughts strayed to Boss. I saw him head to his room early, and everyone knows the Boss. _Geez Boss, you said you wanted it all, but you'd go as far as to use Martel? You desperate?_ That's when another thought hit me. My eyes widened at the realization that should have come to me long ago.

Boss really wanted it all, and that meant _all._ Everything. But that means that he likes soft things, too. Martel's soft- when she's not trying to kill me. Oh well- it adds excitement to the day. Apart from that... Martel really likes Greed, because she sees more than his greed. I'm an insane mass-murderer. How could anyone see past that? _Hold it. You're not _jealous_, of _that_, are you? _I smirked. _I dunno. _

It was starting to rain. I looked up at the clouds with a glare. "Whatever's out there, you should know I'm mad. When I'm mad, I explode things. Lottsa things. You should also know... that explosions aren't so satisfying when the rain is wearing them down. You wouldn't want me blowing up this whole city trying to satisfy myself, would you?" I muttered at the clouds. As if on cue, the rain came to a halt, but I still glared at the sky. Threatening things and people weren't going to get me out of this mess.

"Mister, you should pack it up." _Just what I needed, _sir_, now I wanna explode you as well. _But when I looked at the circles on my hands, I found myself jumping over the gate and heading back to the Nest without another word.

It was really late now, nearly midnight. Since I always just crash in the corner of Greed's room, I opened the door. However... all I saw in _there... _Martel and Greed were, well, I don't know how to put it. One of them was on top of the other one, and both seem to be having a pretty good time. I just closed my eyes without taking another step inside that now-cursed room. They hadn't noticed I'd walked in, so there was no pause in the action.

"If I want any sleep tonight, I'll be in the living room." I murmured into the room on my way back to the couch. I'd barely sat down before both Greed and Martel walked out, both with pretty big smiles. "Had fun?" I asked casually, lifting the pillow that was placed on my face. Martel was stretching an arm across her torso, and Greed had one arm on each of her shoulders, one accompanied by his head. His eyes were closed, but his smile never fading.

After just a moment's silence, Martel turned her head to Greed's, leaning her forehead on the side of his. "You know, Greed, I have to sleep _some_time," she murmured. Standing back up, Greed replied casually, "Guess so. Wouldn't want you wasted." before they disappeared again. Muttering something dirty about idiots, I took nearly an hour to fade into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Sophia's POV~

It was morning time, a day I had to check in at the hospital. I hadn't been allowed to exercise much due to my wounds, so I decided to walk to the hospital.

It was another cool morning, at about 58 degrees Fahrenheit, so I grabbed a coat, a scarf, and a hat. I got cold rather easily, so I always dressed a little excessively. A breeze carrying a few uniquely colored leaves bustled through the door on my way out.

It was breezy, to be expected in Fall. That is the only reason this particular sequence of events were able to fall into place. With my hat dumbly placed far over on my forehead, I could hardly see five feet in front of me, but it was only there so I wouldn't be stalled by any neighbors, a particular few who could talk for hours on end without you uttering a word.

Of course, due to my lack of visibility, I ended up bumping into someone. Scowling, I lifted my head to see who it was, only to find that they, too, were wearing disguising attire. _I wonder why... heck, who am I to talk?_ A gust of wind picked up close to the ground, carrying both our hats downwind a few feet. We both went after our hats to look up and come face-to-face with each other. It was Kimbley.

Kimbley's POV~

Those eyes again. Hard and gray, they weren't eyes you could just forget. They left their mark, which might have been the only reason I remembered them. Someone had eyes just like that, if I could just remember who... _Great. Hope I wasn't staring. _

I stubbornly readjusted my hat. I was a wanted criminal- if anyone saw the famous Solf J. Kimbley prowling the streets, all roads lead to prison. It should be the same with this one, too. Is she going for her phone? No, just putting her hands in her pockets. Why hasn't she called the cops? Not that I can complain. It's just confusing. She's part of the military which was supposed to have me executed. Why wasn't I, anyway? Are they even after me? Most likely, considering she tried to kill me. I hate it when that happens.

"Well, isn't this uncanny?" I stated, trying to keep the evil in my eyes. I don't want to come across as an easy target, so I'd keep my facade. "Sure, let's call it that." she responded with a glare. After a short moment of silence, I smirked and walked off. We had a small agreement now: we both keep our mouths shut until we can consolidate. She did owe me one, after all.

Sophia's POV~

I seriously wanted to scream at that guy, pull my gun out and shoot his head clean off his body, but I couldn't. I owed him and it was obvious that he knew it. To get right down to it, I could have called not shooting him making up for the debt, but he, just as easily, could have killed me the first time he saw me. _This is Kimbley we're talking about! He's killed countless people, so who could I remind him of that he obviously had a soft spot for? _That's probably when it hit me. Maybe he didn't have a soft spot for any living person- maybe I reminded him of someone he regretted killing.

I mentally slapped myself repeatedly. _Get to the hospital, genius!_

"So that's when I said..." I was barely listening to this particular nurse's ramble. It wasn't the same one who'd taken care of me the first day- she was a petite brunette, but this one was a short, chunky blond who could go on and on about basically _anything._ Last time I checked, it was toothpicks. Toothpicks! I sighed.

"Oh hey!" she nearly shouted. I almost jumped out of my chair- the voice was right next to my ear. I turned my head with a fake smile. "Y-yes?" "You're still off work, right? Here, you should go to this!" She pulled a small piece of paper from thin air and handed it to me. Reading it, it turns out it was some kind of fancy dinner party being held on the next day.

"Well this is short notice," I uttered, but of course the nurse wasn't listening. "Us hospital agents were all invited, and we're supposed to bring someone along, but everybody else is going with another agent, so I figured I'd just take a patient to go along, how does that sound, huh? Should be a lot of fun!" I smiled fondly at the letter. "It _has _been a while since I've went out of my way to have some fun," I murmured. The nurse nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, yeah! There'll be a dance floor, so you'll have a lot of fun. You do dance, right?" I nodded. "Yes, my father used to take me to lessons all the time, and I still go once in a while. I'll be there." I replied, pocketing the note. The nurse grinned. "Great!"

I didn't have a dress, so that afternoon, the nurse put it upon herself to go shopping with me. I guess I was one of her only patients who could stand her, to be treating me like an old friend.

'We' decided on a black gown, a little over knee-high in length, with three-quarter sleeves to hide my injuries, but the shoulders were open. The front had silver lace fastening it close to my body, and the back side was in a steep V-shape, exposing that much more skin. It had a low waistline, and below that, it was loose and flowing for dancing. In my opinion, way too exposing. To Whitney, the nurse, it was perfect.

"Ooh, twirl, twirl!" "Why?" "C'mon, you'll end up doing it a lot on the dance floor. One twirl, please?" Whitney whined. I rolled my eyes, lifted my arm, and turned in my two-inch, black heels. They were good dancing shoes, with a rubber sole, and they crawled about four inches up past my ankle.

"Ooh, that's so pretty!" Whitney squealed. "What's your dress?" I asked her. "I have a pale pink one at home, and it goes with some white heels and pearl earrings!" I smiled. "Sounds very pretty." Whitney nodded again. "Yeah, yeah!" It never hit me how this lady could get a husband as rich as her's was.

"I'll pick you up at seven o'clock tomorrow!" Whitney called from her car. I nodded and waved until the car was out of sight, then I entered my own house. Setting the dress and shoes aside, I decided on some long, black, sparkly earrings to go with the rest of the outfit. It was the only addition I got to decide on.

After a long, unexpected day out of town, I was ready to go to sleep. I took a warm shower, got dressed for bed, and fell asleep, skipping dinner. And I'll tell you now, after eight days of doing absolutely nothing, I plunged into sleep like a rock.

Kimbley's POV~

"What's this?" "Go in disguise. We have someone to get out of the way who should be there, and we can't be spotted. Not until it's done, at least." Martel told me in her snappy voice. I didn't give any signs of acknowledgment, I just read the note. It was for some kind of party. I shrugged and put it in my pocket, heading back to my corner of Boss's room to get my white tux.

Sophia's POV~

"I am like, _so _excited. You know, General Quinn is supposed to be there, too! It's supposed to be for him, actually." Whitney babbled on the way. "I know. It's on the letter," I pointed out, flicking said-paper out of my pocket to point to the general's name in the title. Whitney gave a silly laugh, and we continued the ride to the mansion, all the while I absently listened to Whitney's babble about everything.

The mansion was beautiful- copper walls, silk curtains, enormous chandeliers, grand staircases, and magnificent murals. There was an orchestra and a band, the orchestra preforming first. There must have been well over a dozen tables filled with chef delicacies, much of which I indulged myself into at the table Whitney, a few other hospital agents, and I had claimed.

When nearly everyone at the table had gone off to the dance floor, a figure came over to me. "Best not eat yourself sick, then how would you save a dance for me?" My head shot up at the familiarity of the voice. The man tipped his hat to the side, confirming my suspicions. "What are you doing here?" I whispered harshly. He smirked, holding out a hand. "You do tango, don't you, officer?" he murmured. "It's Sophia, and only when I'm forced to." I mutter back. His smirk widened. "Perfect."

He took my hand without another thought and headed to the floor. "I figured we could use a private talk." he uttered. "The middle of a dance floor is your idea of private?" I growled back. Turning to face me, he took my other hand, beginning the step. "Of course..." Pulling me closer to finish his explaination, he murmured, "...this way, no one will suspect us."

I rolled my eyes as he lifted his hand, cuing me to turn. Once I landing back where I'd started, Kimbley spoke again. "I'm here for business. However, I did _not_ expect to see _you_ here." "I was invited." I muttered before he pulled me closer, making me step through his legs, leaning back to finish the spin. "Just so we're clear, you should know that I am perfectly capable of killing you right this moment." His voice was so close to my ear it sent a shiver down my spine.

I forced his hand up, letting me turn, giving me a chance to slip my knife from my up-do. Sliding the blade on the transmutation circles engraved in his hands, I murmured back, "Just so we're clear, you should know that I'm perfectly capable of suspending your abilities." Kimbley smirked. "Finally... it gets _interesting_."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you RachLa for the review. **

**RachLa: That's good to hear!**

**In case anyone was wondering, the dance moves I'm using here are real dance moves, but not just for tango. There are AZ Two-Step, Rumba, and West-Coast Swing moves in here, too. **

Sophia's POV~

I was seriously considering flicking my wrist, slicing those tedious marks from his hands. However, that would make me even _more _in debt to him. I cursed in my head. _This situation sucks. I'm in debted to a mass-murder. Last month, I would have said, "Since when and why?"_

I'm just going to throw this out there; I hate to tango. It gets me much too close to my partner than I'd ever rather being. However, for a confidential, private conversation of questions and answers, it was quite convenient. Not to say I enjoyed it- I kept well in mind just who my dance partner was.

"How is your arm?" Kimbley asked out of the blue. I blinked. "Second-degree burns. I still don't get why you care, anyway. It makes no sense." He gave a crooked smile, giving me a half turn, making me complete the move by momentarily leaning back on his shoulder. Oh well, at least he didn't smell, and I can't say that for all of my dance partners.

While I was still back, he muttered, "Could you kill your sister?" My eyes widened in horror. "My sister? Of course not, who do you think I am?" I whispered, just quiet enough not to draw suspicion. How could he ask something like that?

"You remind me of a girl I met more years ago than I care to admit, and she may as well have been my sister. You're different, but you've got the same look in your eyes." I stood up back straight again, having to cross arms across each other and me having to slide my hand down his arm to get back to the first position. "You said it yourself. You wouldn't kill your sister, so neither would I, if I had one."

It occurred to me only then that Kimbley might not have a real family. I'd never bothered myself with studying criminals' personal lives, I just took them down without a second thought. Those were the orders. But, somehow, when he talked like that, it's actually possible to think that something happened to his family other then him blowing them up.

"Where do you live now anyway: on the run, or with someone else?" I asked out of plain curiosity. His expression went solemn. "With a second family of sorts," he muttered, almost like there was something to be ashamed of. He was an insane killer, what pride could he loose? It only peaked my curiosity.

The song ended, and Kimbley dropped me off after a low dip and a bow. I made my way back to my table, where Whitney was waiting for me. "Ooh, who was _that_?" she cooed. I rolled my eyes. "You don't want to know." "Oh, no, I think I do. You know him?" she pressed, scooting her chair closer to mine. I shook my head quickly, shoving her chair a foot or so farther away.

"Aw, you're so secretive and no fun!" she pouted, crossing her arms on her chest. I rolled my eyes with a smile. "You know, I heard they were going to serve some marble cake for the general's wife's birthday." I remarked, just trying to get the subject of my last dance partner off the game table. Whitney's eyes lit up.

"Really? Won't you come with me?" she pleaded. I sighed and stood up, beckoning her to stand. Like an excited school girl, Whitney followed me over to the cake. Marble wasn't my favorite, so I didn't partake, but Whitney noted that it was 'spectacular' and 'fantastic' and all of the other positive terms there are out there. After a few moments of staring off into space, I stood up. "Where are you going now, Sophie?" Whitney inquired. I smiled at her. "Just to get some punch. Want me to get you some?" "Oh, yes please! You're the greatest!" I chuckled and went on my way.

The chandelier above my head most have had four hundred bulbs on it. It took up nearly a thirty-foot circle on the ceiling, and it had to be brighter than any star from Earth. Little did I know, but as I stood in the center of it, just staring up at it, it was coming to meet me, fast.

There were screams all around, people scrambling to get away, guests pouring out the doors, but not me.Everything was in slow-motion as I stood square in the middle of it all, just waiting for it to come crashing down. I looked down for a split moment to see that my stance was off. I shifted over a few inches and waited. Soon enough, it came down with a crash. All around me, a fire spread, engulfing me just like at the hospital.

I blinked slowly, in a daze. What was I doing there? Where was I? I couldn't see anything anywhere. I may as well have been in hell, but I was alive. The giant light had only just missed me, and right at that moment, all I could think was; _I wish I was an alchemist_, and I ran for it. Straight through the flames I charged, crossing my arms over my face. Seeing that my dress was going to catch at any moment, I took the water jugs, smashing the lids open on the table and pouring the content over me.

Luck must have placed its desirable finger on my shoulder, because by the time I'd snapped out of my trance, the fire was still only a growing substance. I snatched a silver salad bowl, chucked it at the window, yanked the window of its expensive curtains, covered as much of my flesh as possible, and jumped through the second window that month. Having gotten out of the to-be-burnt house, I hurriedly untangled myself of the now-shredded curtains, kicked my heels into the lawn, and hurried to find the way out.

Only after I sprinted like I'd never sprinted before and run out of energy did I stop to think why on Earth that happened. "Here for _business_, huh, Kimbley? This is what you meant by _business_? Just what kind of crazed family do you come from anyway, to be calling that _business_?" I muttered, though I wanted to shout and get a reply.

Weak from the shock, I leaned up against the wall while I made my way down the deserted street. It was cold, but I supposed that's what I got for wearing a short, revealing dress and no shoes on cement in the middle of the night. A considerate man, who'd also ran away from the fire, gave me his coat to wear, and to him I was grateful.

"Dorochet, did you finish off the general?" I heard a venomous voice yell from just around the corner. I pressed myself against the wall as to not make a shadow. _Dorochet... I know that name, he was the guy Kimbley asked to kill me. So that means, if he's working with Kimbley, then he should be around this corner, too. Well, I've got a blade with his name written all over it!_ I thought to myself harshly, wearing a hard glare.

I slipped my blade out from my up-do where I'd replaced it earlier and began to silently follow the figures as they made their way through the streets, one figure with the regenerating skin, the other with a sword, one more with an ax, a blond lady, and... Kimbley. I shadowed them as quietly as possible, made quieter by my lack of shoes.

They went quite a ways without even pausing to turn around, but when a fork in the road came, Kimbley stalled. I held my breath and tip-toed around a different edge of wall, praying to whatever's out there for him not to look around. The other people turned to look at him, confused. "What is it?" the big guy with the ax growled. "I'll catch up, you guys go on ahead." Kimbley murmured. _I'm done for._ One guy, obviously posing as a leader, waved him off and lead the others down the street. Kimbley didn't move for a few moments, and I almost thought that he hadn't spotted me. Almost.

I squeezed my eyes shut in prayer. _Please, please, please..._ "You are a real idiot, you know that?" the voice was right in front of me. A hard hand locked under my chin, pinning me to the wall. If the grip was any tighter, I would have suffocated. My eyes snapped open to meet the piercing ones of Solf J. Kimbley. "You idiot! You didn't honestly expect to shadow us all the way to camp without us noticing, did you?" he shouted at me. I didn't move. I didn't even glare. I just stood there, about to choke by his grip by my windpipe, listening. He slapped me across the face with his opposite hand.

"Dorochet was on the verge of sensing you! You're asking to get killed, and you can't expect me to stand by and watch you get a blade run through her stomach!" He retracted the hand holding my throat to the wall quickly, making me stumble. "I've shown you this much of the way, but no farther. You'd need to go back before someone comes, and the next time you feel like following someone, don't choose us." he muttered, shoving my front side into the wall and fleeing the scene.

I took a moment to just stand there, leaning against the wall with one hand keeping the rest my body from touching it, catching my breath. After a few moments, I picked my head up and smirked. _That's different. He had a practical reason for everything he did. He must have pushed me against the wall so I wouldn't see which way he would turn, and kept his grip on my throat so I'd have no choice but to listen. _I felt like a little kid who'd just gotten spanked for doing something dangerously stupid, except I'd been slapped, and instead of by a parent, by a serial-killer.

While I staggered to my house, I couldn't help but wonder how much this 'sister' must have meant to Kimbley, for him to repeatedly go out of his way to help someone who only reminded him of her. _I wonder what kind of girl she must have been, to get Kimbley to notice her in any other form than a bomb._

Leaning back on my front door, I sank to the tile of my house. It was a very long day, and I was frozen to the bone and about to pass out from exhaustion. Standing up again, I couldn't take another step. My mind was drowning in thoughts, and the warmth of my house was getting me extremely drowsy. I picked up my foot, and my entire body paid for it. I collapsed back where I started, and this time, I knew that there was no chance of me getting back up. I wasn't able fight sleep mentally or physically, so just this once, I gave in to it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks again for all the subscribers and the favorites, and another thanks to RachLA for the review.**

**RachLA: I hope so!**

My wake up call consisted of a door being swung open square on my head. Needless to say, it was rather unpleasant. "Oh, sorry Lieutenant!" I heard a boyish character apologized in a surprised voice. I opened my eyes and rubbed my head where the door had made contact with the flesh. Groaning, I staggered into a stand. The military officer at my doorstep saluted quickly.

"I'm Sergeant Haden Len! I was sent by General Quinn's second-in-command to notify you that as of today, you are legible to restart your work!" Just then he must have actually looked at me, because he took a step back and asked, "A-are you alright, Lieutenant, sir?" I looked down at myself.

I was still wearing my dirty, half-burned dress from yesterday's party, my hair must have been mussed out of my up-do by now and was most likely sticking out all over the place, I felt dark circles under my eyes, I was having quite some trouble standing, and my expression was probably looked pretty close to one of a late-night drinker's. I frowned and pulled a slip of paper from the shelf by the door. It was the invitation to the dinner party. I handed it to the Sergeant to explain my appearance.

His eyes widened at the recognition of the letter. "Oh, okay, sorry Lieutenant. I can take that to the General's office as explaination if you want to take the day off..." he trailed on. I shook my head. There was no way I could take another day off- I had stuff to catch up on. "Just take it as explaination for behavior, soldier. I'll be there." I waved him off and shut the door.

Dragging myself to the washroom, I sank into a bathtub full of warm water just to lay there for a few minutes. Deciding that I had to actually wake up, I started draining the water and turned on the shower-head. After my fifteen-minute shower, I put on my military uniform, quickly brushed my teeth, grabbed a bagel, and caught a taxi to work, since I seriously doubted my driving ability at this point.

Upon entering the office, it seemed like word had already gotten around about me having been at the dinner party- everyone was passing me looks and whispers, most likely spreading a few rumors I'd never hear about. Ignoring them, I took a seat at my desk in the general's office, getting a start on the paperwork I'd missed. It was tedious and tiresome work, but it had to be done, and so, by the end of the day, it was.

I was lucky enough to have returned to work on a Friday, the last day of my strand of continuous work days. After the general had dismissed us, I dropped my head on the desk, worn out by absolute nothingness. Everyone had left except the first-lieutenant. After grabbing her bag, she looked over at me. "Need a ride, Morst?" she inquired. I picked up my head, scratching it. "Yeah... thanks," I murmured, getting myself out of my chair to receive a generous ride my house.

I sat on the bench of my house, staring off into the darkening and barren street. "Well, you look about to drop dead." a scarily familiar voice called from the edge of the sidewalk. I tilted my head to the side, giving the all-to-familiar man a dull look. "We're even now." I muttered to him. He gave his infamous cocky half-smile. "Yeah, sure. I refrain from killing you, you keep your mouth shut to the police, I wrap your arms, I explode a building on you. Even, except that I've also kept quiet." "Yeah, the next time you feel like exploding a building on me, you keep that in mind and maybe you'll go through with it." I responded, standing up and entering my house, slamming the door behind me.

Kimbley's POV~

_Keep that in mind and maybe you'll go through with it, my ass._ She had a point, though. I was on the roof! How was I supposed to know she was _right_ underneath that stupid chandelier? If I'd known, I probably would have taken down something on the opposite side of the building, then she would definitely still owe me one.

_Why am I even taking this seriously? Any other time, I would have just blown their face off upon __meeting. What's so different about this officer? Whatever._ I'd tried to forget, and before that party, if I hadn't have spotted her, I might have stood a chance at succeeding. This whole thing was based off of a series of unfortunate coincidences, and they were throwing me off my regular demeanor. It was just annoying. How was I supposed to keep my cool when I didn't even feel like myself? Drama sucks.

Sophia's POV~

_ Today, my house burned down. Not even kidding. After the police were finally convinced that was I wasn't it wasn't a drug lab explosion, they started looking into how it happened. I wasn't home- I was at the hospital for a check-up on my arm. You can probably bet on what I think happened. It seemed pretty obvious to me- Kimbley blew up my house. _

"Keep that in mind and you just might go through with it, how stupid can you get? You don't just say those things to criminals and expect them to _not _blow up your house!" I shouted, pounding my fist on the desk in the dorm I was staying in. After my house was gone, I started living in the military's living quarters. At least then I wouldn't have to pay for a hotel.

I sank down to the ground. My home was gone, my only source of true security. I hid my face in my hands. I was _not _going to cry. Soldiers don't cry when they're houses are gone. They might cry when comrades die, or when they lose their family, but not when a building goes down. What more did I have to lose? All family I had was either dead or many, many miles away. Friends didn't come easily for me- I had no time for such things. There was no one who could know, no one I could talk to, and no one I could go to for a sense of security.

I picked up my head. _This is pathetic. I'm a soldier, for crying out loud. I don't dwell on my troubles, I overcome them. That's the way of the military._ I stood up and sat down at my desk. I brought paperwork I had to do back to my dorm so I wouldn't have time to think. Work, work, work, and keep your mind off of absolutely everything; another way of the military. It was about midnight when I turned off my autopilot to redress, shower, and sit on my bed, staring off into space. _As long as I don't end up in a bar, I'm doing pretty well._ I thought to myself with a half-fake smile. _Explode one more building on me, Kimbley, and I'll have a _second _good reason to kill you._

It was always evening when I needed a walk. I didn't really have another source of entertainment or time-wasting, so a walk was all I could really do. Well, besides reading, but reading military records and history was not my idea of entertainment. It was also always evening when I ran into _him_, which was the other reason I decided on a stroll through the city.

However, after about half an hour of practically _scouring _the city looking for the wanted criminal, I took a seat at an outdoor table of a restaurant. I ordered only a cup of coffee, which would keep me up to finally get through all the paperwork. Then I'd just lug my sorry self into work the next day and pray I won't fall asleep. The Lieutenant would wake me up, I hope. Then I had the rest of Saturday to catch up on my sleep.

Taking a sip of the warm coffee, I saw someone pass by in a white tux. I knew that tux. I jumped out of my seat and over the short fence separating the restaurant from the street, shouting, "You in the tux! Hold up!" The man paused and turned around. I couldn't see his face because of his hat. I paused in front of him. "Take off the hat." I muttered. The man did so. I hung my head. It was an old man.

"You need something, miss?" he inquired. "Sorry. I'm with the military. You looked an awful lot like a wanted criminal." The elderly man gave a laugh at that. "Well I assure you, my record is quite clear. Have a good day, officer." he replied and started walking down the street.

Disappointed and already feeling like an idiot, I returned to the restaurant to see that someone was already in my seat with their feet kicked up to the table, their arms crossed behind their head and they looked as if about to fall asleep. I cleared my throat. "Excuse me, sir. That's my seat." I growled, annoyed. The man opened two caramel-colored eyes and smirked.

"My apologies officer, that was rather rude of me." _Officer? Wait a second..._ My eye twitched. For certain, it was Kimbley. He was wearing street clothes, and his hair, instead of being tied back, was let loose, making him unrecognizable without the help of his eyes, voice, and the word 'officer'.

I closed my eyes, slapped down money for the coffee, and punched Kimbley across the jaw. His head was turned slightly from the impact. He realigned his face, rubbing the place of my strike with the back of his hand. "Hey, now what was that for?" "You know damn well what that was for!" I shouted. It'd attracted the silent attention of the rest of the restaurant's guests. Kimbley's face didn't alter. "I'm afraid not. Enlighten me." "Oh, I don't know, maybe for burning down my house!" Kimbley tilted his head, a smug look on his face. "Let's see. A house, huh? Nope, doesn't ring a bell, sorry." I swung another punch at his face, the opposite side this time.

"Don't play stupid! You had every reason in the world to go and take down my house!" Kimbley caught my wrist, a frustrated look in his eyes. "Let's see, _officer_, did you ever stop to think how in the world I would know the location of your house? I'm an escapee, not a stalker." he growled at me. That was a new thought. I flicked my wrist out of his grasp.

"And by the way, here's something else. Why in the world would I go through all the trouble of getting you out of some sticky situations just to turn around and burn your house down? Sounds counterproductive to me." he continued, returning to the position I'd first saw him in. I blinked. _He has a point..._ "Fine, if you _weren't_ the one who burned down my house, then who did?" Kimbley shrugged with a yawn. "How am I supposed to know? Probably some bored guy who decided to take down someone's house, and it just so happened to be yours." he muttered, closing his eyes.

I crossed my arms in front of me. "Explode my house or not, I still want you out of my seat." Kimbley yawned again. "Why don't you just bring over another chair?" "Because my coffee is over there." As response, he opened one eye and slid the coffee over to me. I sighed and pulled a chair from an empty table, beginning to take silent sips of the cooling liquid.

_Eh, he's right, he doesn't even know where my house is, and I seriously doubt he'd go and take down my house just to get even with me. Great. That means I still owe him one. Geez Kimbley, why do you have to go around saving my life all the time?_ After a minute or two, I almost thought Kimbley had gone to sleep, but I knew better.

"Hey, why weren't you executed?" I asked, suddenly interested. "I have no idea." was his immediate, wide-awake response. "Then what happened at Lab 5?" "People wanted me dead. The building exploded. The rest is top-secret." he replied, using his right had for gestures for words such as 'people', 'dead', and 'explode'. "So you have no idea what the Elrics were doing in there?" I inquired. "Of course I know. Just because it's top-secret doesn't mean there aren't still people on the outside who know a thing or two about it." "But you were there, not on the 'outside'. So that means you might know more than just a thing or two." "And I do." I sighed in defeat and settled for coffee. The topic of Lab 5 was a quite interesting one to me, but few people knew any more than that the Elrics were in the so-called abandoned building, and that it exploded. Anyone who knew anything else kept their mouths shut tight.

"But if you really want to know some more," he continued. I looked up at him. His eyes were open and looking at my face. "There is a certain Lieutenant with a pretty loose mouth, if you press her about it enough." "What's the name?" I asked immediately. "Let's see, I believe it was... Oh yes. First-Lieutenant Maria Ross." _Ross? How in the world would she... _"Her partner, Sergeant Brock, too. They both went into the building right before it exploded, heard a few things, saw a few things... maybe you'll get them to tell you some of the details. If you're lucky, you might even catch one of the Elrics before they're off again." he suggested. I narrowed my eyes. "Why are you letting me on for all of this?" I questioned. Kimbley shrugged. "To be completely honest I have no idea. But hey, why not?"


	5. Chapter 5

**I know, I'm so, so late. Sorry guys, school just started back up, and we all know how that goes. Another big hand to favoriters, subscribers, readers, and a cookie for my reviewers, UnderTheHood and RachLA.**

"Laboratory 5?" Ross questioned, a little bewildered by the sound of it. I nodded. "Why the interest? It's a dangerous topic, Morst." she warned me. "I'm well aware of that, sir, but it might give a hand in keeping track of the Elric brothers. Besides, military retook control over that building, and its our job to know what happened. The information won't reach the outside on my watch, sir." I reassured her. Kimbley hinted that something did in fact happen there, and if I wanted to know what was really going on behind the military's back, I wanted to start here.

Ross sighed. "Sorry, sir. All I can really say for the time being is that the building was controlled by military officers not doing their duties, violating many restrictions against certain forms of alchemical research." I heaved a small sigh of defeat. "Then what with the Elrics?" I tried. Ross' expression went more solemn. "They were at the wrong place at the wrong time, and payed only half the price. But you can't get any more involved in this case, Morst. You'll end up like Brigadier General Hughes; killed." she told me before heading off down the hall.

"Well, that was a pretty generous waste of time," I muttered to myself. "On the contrary." I heard a voice call from behind me. I gripped my pistol and whipped around. I was in my way back to my dorm, packing up. I finally got to buying an apartment, and since I already had my things together, I would move them there. Who would be here?

"Let me get this straight. I save your helpless life, and you repay me at gunpoint? Now this is _very_ counterproductive, officer." I glared at Kimbley, who stood a good twenty-five feet down the path. Re-holstering my gun, I called back to him, "This is going to get old, Kimbley. Weren't you the one who said you weren't a stalker? Care to explain?" Kimbley put that old smug look on his face again. That's when I noticed it.

"Well come now Sophie, I'm Kimbley. I have connections, rather well-kept ones at that, ones that could easily guide me toward the general direction of one's home." he explained casually, walking toward me. I kept my fingertips on my gun, just in case. He stopped about three feet in front of me.

"So what do you want?" I growled. "There's no need for that attitude, now is there? In fact, I was feeling so generous as to give you a way to repay some of your debt to yours truly." he replied smoothly. I kept my eyes focusing on the corner of my vision. At this rate, there would be a lot of things I did before I met his gaze. The truth in his words made me sick. But still, there was _it _in his arms – a rather curious package for a criminal.

"Since you are quite obviously moving, I wonder if you'd be so kind as to take him off my hands." My eyes wandered to it. It was a just about a fluffy brown ball, the way it was curled up, but it was definitely a dog, a pup at that. I blinked. "Why did you bring him here?" I questioned stiffly. Kimbley looked at the pup. "I was about to turn him into a bomb, then I found just how soft he was. Such a precious trait should be preserved, so I thought it'd be best kept in your hands." I blinked again. "Just what are you inclining?" I inquired, looking him in the eye. He smirked. "Opposites attract, or so I've heard." My eye twitched. _Ouch. He just called the dog soft and precious, and now he says 'opposites attract' when he gives me the poor dog? Okay, I think that one could deserve a round of applause. One up for Kimbley._

I groaned, but nonetheless reached for the puppy. Kimbley eased the shivering dog into my arms, and I held it close. "No fireworks, but problem solved." Kimbley remarked. I shot him a warning glance. "I could say that I couldn't believe you were about to turn the little guy into a bomb, but that would be a lie." I retorted. "I think I'd correct you if you did say that, officer. You don't seem the type to forget who you're dealing with." he responded, once again casual. "And I don't." I muttered, and started walking toward the once-mine dorm, Kimbley at my side.

When we got into the dormitory, I looked down at my few cases of belongings. None of them were from my house- everything in there was reduced to charcoal, so I had to re-buy the essentials. I let out an internal sigh and picked up one of the heavier chests, shoving the door open wider with my foot. "You lead the way," I heard from behind me. I turned my head to see that Kimbley had picked up two cases, leaving only two small ones behind.

"You're not trying to make me owe you more, are you?" Kimbley smirked. "I think we can let just this one favor go." he relied. I shrugged and headed out the door, Kimbley keeping in step with me. It's about a six-minute walk to my apartment, which means six minutes of silence. Fine by me.

Did I feel bad about him carrying twice as much as me? Not a bit. Did I feel awkward about spending eighteen minutes alone with a mass-murder? Being alone with him; nope. Remembering his stature in society; maybe. But it didn't really matter anyway- the job got done, and that's all that those of the military can hope for. I may not own much, but I sure own my title.

Kimbley's POV~

Did I think Sophia should have carried more? Not really, after all she is a lady. Did I feel awkward about spending eighteen minutes alone with the woman who has tried to kill me? Awkward; no. Different; sure. And about her trying to kill me, it's only expected.

"You're ready for tomorrow, right?" I heard Greed's voice seethe. I turned my head to look at him. "What's tomorrow?" I inquired. Dorochet answered that one. "The trip down South. We need to move out for a little while until the military stops dogging around the nest." Then he muttered, as an afterthought, "No pun intended." "And there's always the idea of catching up with the Elrics." Greed added. I gave it some thought. "So then, we're leaving. Maybe I should stay behind." Just about everyone in the room looked at me, confused.

"Why?" Greed questioned. I turned to look at the map on the wall. "The military is still out on the hunt for me, so they'll probably figure I'll leave town and head either South or East. I don't feel like pressing my luck, and the last thing they'll think is that I hadn't budged." I explained, trying to sound as casual as possible. Greed bought it with a shrug.

"Well sure, just don't get yourself caught again while we're gone." he told me as if I were a kid. I scoffed and headed to Greed's room to crash.

When I awoke the next morning, the nest was empty. They left without a trace. Stretching, I silently made my way over to the living room of sorts. I sat down on the couch with my legs propped up on the table, staring at the ceiling, wondering what I'd make of today. Now that I knew where Sophia lived, I could always stop by for a visit, or I could go explode a building. Or maybe I'd laze around for another week, but that didn't sound very appealing. _Exploding a building could get me caught. As for stopping by Sophie's, she's probably at work anyway. Maybe this evening I'll go._ I thought with a yawn.

Sophia's POV~

_I seriously need a bed._ was my first groggy thought of the morning. It was true though- I ended up sleeping on the floor next to the cases. It was pretty late by the time we'd gotten the stuff moved up here, and I was ready for a nap anyway, so I just kind of fell asleep right after Kimbley left. I'd just prayed I wouldn't be woken up by the door being swung at my head like the last time I crashed in front of the door.

You know that feeling you get when you do something really stupid, and some people stop and think, just to cheer themselves up; _If that's the only stupid thing I do today, I'm doing pretty well._ Well, I made one _really_ dumb mistake today, and if I thought that, I'd be lying to myself. What was this mistake, you may ask? Taking a walk.

It was cold. Bitterly cold, and dark. The floor beneath my feet was cold steel. I stood up just as the eery place started moving, and I was knocked back down to the floor again. I opened my eyes to see a six-inch by three-inch window. I carefully stood up, grasping the bare walls for support as I inched my way over to it. Peering out, I saw snowy mountains, an occasional crisp snowflake flying in through the gap in the wall.

I had absolutely no idea how I got where I was, or why I was there in the first place. All I knew was that I wasn't supposed to be here, that I had to get away. I pounded on the walls, but nothing happened. The stiff, iron door wouldn't budge. The wind whistled past my window, and I knew I was on a train. But a train had to stop, and when it did, I knew I would run for it. Somewhere. Anywhere. We were up North. Maybe I could get to Briggs. I shrank to the ground, huddling up in the corner of the train car, grasping onto my body-warmth for dear life. There was nothing more I could do.

Kimbley's POV~

After scouring the whole town, pounding on Sophia's door countless times, and getting absolutely nothing out of anyone, I knew something was wrong. Sure, she was sure annoying and a total smart-ass when she was around, but when she wasn't... something wasn't right.

I blew up the door of her apartment. Looking around, she still hadn't unpacked anything, and it wasn't like she was dead in there. _Kidnapped?_ I wondered. The thought became more and more realistic. She was rather high-ranking military, she was interested in Lab 5, and she had connections to a serial-killer. Who _wouldn't_ kidnap her?

My next thought was where in the world she would end up; probably in the middle of nowhere, where no one could even think of finding her as a possibility. That means not in Central, and perhaps not even in the country. Wilderness, most likely. That meant either East to the desert, or North to the mountains.

There were more trade routes to Xing than Drachma, so there were more merchants crossing the desert, which means a higher possibility of them coming across her. The country of Drachma was also larger than the desert, not to mention that you could barely see three feet in front of you in any blizzard, whereas you could almost always see in the desert. That meant Drachma. _Looks like I'll be taking a little trip of my own. _


	6. Chapter 6

**This fanfiction is set in the first season, but Briggs still exists, in my mind at least. **

**Once again, beloved favoriters, subscribers, readers, and reviews, you have my truest thanks.**

Bribing some old, unemployed helicopter pilot to fly me up North was no problem, after all there are plenty of beggars around Central. Getting there, however, was a different story. The helicopter I hijacked couldn't be just any old heli. It had to be durable, snow resistant, and had to function in a blizzard. That sure narrowed my options, but like I said, there sure are a bunch of beggars in Central. After this little expedition, I've actually gained some respect for the outcasts. Not that I can talk.

As expected, Briggs was in the middle of a snowstorm, and it was getting really hard to see anything down below. It wasn't like we could land the thing in the middle of nowhere, either, so we headed up to the border for a landing pad. We were able to single them with lights, and apparently someone pretty kind was manning it today, because they let us in.

Once the helicopter was nearly to the ground, I jumped out and raced into the building. Upon my sudden entrance, I had basically everyone's attention.

"Are we the only aircraft that's passed through today?" I demanded. A man stood. "Yes, you're the first one today, and we aren't expecting anyone else. Who are you?" he inquired. I waved him off.

"How about trains?" I questioned. "There are no trade routes so high up North, and if there were, my men are military, not merchants and marketers." a new, female's voice called from the doorway. I looked at her. She was blond, had a somewhat stocky build for a lady, with glossy, pink lips and a sword with two pistols hooked to her belt. The stars on her jacket inclined that she was a general. She undid her sword, holding it by her side.

"How about answering some of our questions. Who are you and why are you here?" she commanded. "Someone has gone missing. It's likely their somewhere up North in some kind of high-speed transportation." The woman narrowed her eyes. "I will ask you one more time." she began, flicking up her sword, holding it in front of her. "Who are you?" I smirked. "Sorry miss, but you really don't want to know."

She lunged. Her speed was unhuman, barely giving me time to move. As soon as she was where I had been just a second prior, she swung her leg at the ground in front of me, causing me to trip. Pinning me to ground with her foot, she stuck her sword in the tile in front of me. "Bad idea." I clasped my hands on the blade, ready to turn it into a bomb, when she suddenly retracted it, nearly making me turn _myself_ into a bomb.

_Looks like I'll be doing things the old fashion way. _I brought my leg back up to me, hooking it across her calf, and yanked. She didn't have enough time to react and ended up falling. I rolled to the side and recovered to stance. The minute I did, bullets rang out through the room. The officers were open firing.

A moving target, I raced up to one man, threw a hard punch to his face, snagged his gun, and pointed it at the woman general, who now came for another frontal attack. I was only able to throw one shot in her direction before she was right in front of me, about to run her sword through my stomach. I threw my upper body behind me into a bridge of sorts before flipping my legs up and back, pinning the soldier whose gun I'd taken to the ground.

From what I'd heard, the lady general up North was something of a softy when it came to her men, so I pressed the gun to the guy's head and shouted, "Quit it!" For some really _weird _reason, everyone stopped. I sighed, massaging my shoulder with one hand, holding the pistol to the officer's head with the other.

"Well. I wake up today expecting a pretty slow day and here I am with the military throwing bullets at me." I groaned. I got up, dragging the sweating guy to his feet, with the barrel of the gun not budging from the side of his head. "Look fellas. I'm here looking for a missing person, not to get security all up in my face. Answer my questions and quit asking them and I'll be on my way before you know it." The woman general blinked, her eyes still narrow and wary.

"First things first, now. Has any kind of transportation moved through this wasteland today?" She stood up straight. "One train. That's all. Nothing else has been reported." "Heading where?" "They didn't say. The Fuhrer was on board, and they only told us they had vital packaging that needed to be delivered as quickly as possible, so not many questions were asked." I blinked. _The Fuhrer?_ "Fine. If that's all, I'll be heading out." I told her, starting to leave. "Oliver." she suddenly stated. I turned my head.

"Huh?" She put one hand on her hip. "You're probably calling me 'woman general' in your head. The name is General Oliver Armstrong, and some call me the Northern Wall of Briggs. Now get out of here before you're shot." she ordered. I smirked and headed back out into the snow.

Sophia's POV~

It was so cold. My teeth chattered and goose-bumps pelted my skin, and the metal train car wasn't offering any support. The snow that escaped from the outside didn't melt. I didn't have a coat, in fact all I was wearing was a pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt. At this rate, I wouldn't be at all surprised to know that frost was building up in my hair, but I couldn't know for sure- I didn't dare move my hands from my arms.

I kept looking up that tiny window, hoping to see someone there. Anyone, at this rate, because to know that I wasn't truly alone in this dark, freezing chasm as I'd thought was enough to lift my spirits. Maybe. If I had to choose, I wondered if Kimbley would be one of my top-five picks. I tried laughing at myself, but it froze my saliva. Why in the world would a mass-murder come rescue you now?

It must have been seven hours in that hellish deathtrap before the train stopped. Wild-eyed and hoping to die of hypothermia an any second, my eyes darted around the silent room. Silent, with the exception of the roaring winds I'd gotten rather accustomed to. The metal door opened wide to reveal a dark figure, who walked up into the light. My eyes widened at the recognition of this figure.

"F-fuhrer..?" I stammered. The Fuhrer blinked in surprise. "Oh, I'm still in _this_ form." an eery voice stated. A wave of electricity went through the figure, changing it into a thin-figured male, with piercing eyes and long, dark-green hair, wearing a skin-tight half-tank top like shirt with a short skirt-like bottom. The stranger put one hand on his hip and brought his other up to his face, as if inspecting his nails.

"This form is _much_ cuter, wouldn't you agree?" he cooed in a sly voice, not really expecting an answer. I decided at that point that I wanted to get on this guy's good side. "Y-yes, v-very." It wasn't much of a lie- the form would make a rather attractive male. He looked at me, surprised for a moment before replying, "I know! And Lust says I should go back to my original form, that brat!" I nodded in agreement, though I had no idea what he was ranting about.

"L-Lust must have n-no sense of s-style." I further propped. "Yup, absolutely none." the strange character agreed with the crossing of his arms and a curt nod. "Y-you don't t-think I could m-move somewhere w-warmer?" I requested. _How on earth is he not freezing to death? I'm wearing twice as much material as he is and he's perfectly fine!_

"Oh yeah, that's right, forgot. Guess you wouldn't be much a help dead." _Help? _He walked over to the open door. "Hey Sloth! Got a coat? We're gonna take her in now." Moments later, he turned around and tossed a thick coat at me. I desperately clung to it, putting it on and embracing the warmth that soon engulfed my frozen body.

The still-mysterious person impatiently motioned for me to follow him out into the blizzard. Needless to say, I wasn't too keen about it, but it seemed like a leave-or-die type of situation, so I went along with it.

My feet stank into the snow with each step freezing my feet to the bone. This 'Sloth' character seemed to have disappeared. On the road, the guy suddenly called, "Hey Sloth, I think somebody's coming. Go take care of it." and then it was back to silence.

Soon enough, we got to something of a shack in the middle of nowhere. I wasn't complaining, though- it wasn't snowing inside and there wasn't any ice on the ground, and that was good enough for me. The only sign of over-pour from the outside was a slow leak into a bucket in the corner of the room. The stranger locked the door behind us. Maybe that's when I started getting a little frightened.

He pulled over a chair and sat down. "So, you're in the military?" he started. I nodded shortly. "And you're into the Lab 5 business," he continued. I nodded once more. "But you know about all those warnings, right?" he inquired. I nodded yet again. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. "And you're still interested, you remind me of a certain pipsqueak."

I blinked. "Fullmetal?" I asked. He suddenly leaned back up, pointing to me with a bold finger. "Yeah, yeah, that's the guy!" he exclaimed, standing up and starting to stretch, all the while muttering, "Geez, that guy, he's all over the place, ya just can't keep track of the kid for one week..." "Envy." a sudden, feminine voice called from nowhere.

Startled out of my skin, I looked around with huge eyes, but nothing was changed. The male character turned and looked at the bucket of water with slight annoyance. The bucket was placed right below a dent in the ceiling which was no longer leaking, for some strange reason. He walked up to it, picked it up, and headed to another room. "Be back in a sec. A visitor is here to see ya." _A visitor to see me?_

Moments later, this 'Envy' character walked out of the room along with the Fuhrer's secretary! I blinked in complete surprise at her sudden arrival. She looked at me with a slight curve on her lips. "It's good to see you this evening, Sophia. We have some questions for you concerning your knowledge about Laboratory 5."


	7. Chapter 7

Kimbley's POV~

_Blasted snowstorm,_ I thought, frustrated. I couldn't see the ground at all from the old helicopter; the wind blowing snow in every direction was blinding. "Get this thing closer to the ground," I called to the pilot. He held up a thumbs-up, and the copter started a descending spiral. Gripping onto the hangers from the ceiling as not to fall, I gazed out the large open door. Suddenly, a small shape made its way into view through the storm. I narrowed my eyes to make out something like a house.

Sophia's POV~

I started looking around the room hurriedly, in a slight panic. I knew that I wasn't supposed to have been researching it, and the Fuhrer's secretary could have me as much as executed for the intel. "Well, um, the building exploded..." I murmured, trying not to say anything that I wasn't supposed to know. "Well duh, everyone knows that. We've got some hints that you know s'more." Envy demanded. The secretary held out a hand to stop him, then she turned to me.

"We understand that you have been associating with a man with a criminal record, Sophia. You must tell me, what has he told you about the matter?" I shook my head. "Nothing! Er, that is..." _Great! I'm not even supposed to be talking to Kimbley, and I just admitted to it!_ Envy stood up from his chair, crossing the room to me.

"Look Sophie, we've got something like orders to extract just who knows anything about the-" "What he means to say is," the officer interrupted him, "the topic of Laboratory 5 is what got a very high ranking officer murdered. To only ensure the safety of you and the rest of the military, we have to find out just who holds this delicate information. What do you know?" I shook my head again.

"Really, I don't know anything. I was going to try and get some of it out of R- uh, someone else, but I didn't get anything." I explained hurriedly, trying to keep Ross' name clear. The secretary crossed her arms in front of her. "I'm sorry, Sophia, but we cannot take that as an answer. Too many things are against you. Your connection with Kimbley, your dealing with dangerous intel, and your own admitting to try and learn more about a topic that killed the Brigadier General."

I started walking backwards, only to bump into the door. I struggled to open the heavy door, but then remembered that Envy had locked it on his way in. "Sorry kid, but you're not getting out of here." Envy told me with the same poison in his voice as the one with regenerating skin.

"What, so you want me killed?" I questioned, trying to kill time so that I could find an escape route. Envy looked like he was about to say something demented, but the secretary held her hand up again and spoke. "We do not intend for anyone else to get killed... however, you have received countless warnings about the subject and nothing has helped to get you off of the subject. You already know too much for your own good. If things get out of hand, we will be sent to terminate those with such information, and that includes _you._"

Kimbley's POV~

"Get us to that building over there!" I called. "That's an awkward turn, boss! It'll give us about a seven minute delay before we can even start our descent!" I demanded. "Get us down _fast_, those are your only orders! Sophie could be dead for all we know!" "Excuse me sir, but who the hell is Sophie?" I didn't answer. It was a possibility that she wasn't even there, but possibilities were drying up.

Sophia's POV~

_ Crap. Envy looks like he seriously just wants to kill me, and the Secretary looks on the verge of torturing me, but there's nothing left for me to say! _"This is getting dull, _sir._" Envy hissed sarcastically. The said-officer walked towards me with a gentle face, but piercing eyes. "You have to understand this, Sophia. Do you know why you're here?" "I'm telling you, there's nothing I know! You want me to admit something? Fine! I wanted to know more about Lab 5, because it's not everyday a State Alchemist goes into an abandoned building and it explodes, with him half-dead as a result!" I blurted out.

Looking slightly tired, she turned to Envy, who stalked up to me. As I was destined to discover the hard way, there was a fine blade in his hand. "We do this the easy way, then we do this the hard way. Looks like we're moving up to level two." he seethed, gripping my arm with one hand, pinning me to the wall, pressing the blade of his knife to my cheek, creating a deep cut. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying to just disappear. _I don't want to do this. I can't do this. But there's nothing left for me to do._

Took a step back and landed a hard kick to my jaw, causing me to fall to my knees on the hard ground. He grabbed my hair, holding my head up for a straight shot in his kneeing my face. I collapsed to my hands and knees, feeling that my nose was definitely broken. Envy took another small step back, swinging his foot at my ribcage, once, twice, and went for a third time before I snatched his foot inches away from my already-wounded torso. "That's... enough... of that..." I breathed unsteadily. Envy smirked. "Nope." He slammed his foot back down to the earth, crushing the fingers that had just saved me from a bone-jolting impact. I winced, wondering how many fingers had just broken. He reached down, his devilish eyes meeting mine. "Lucky us. We don't have orders against us killing you, so welcome to level three!"

He wrapped two strong hands around my neck, cutting off my air. While I struggled to breathe, he used his grip to rise me back to my feet again, only to by kneed in the stomach, still under his fast hold, once, twice... three times... four... times...

Kimbley's POV~

_ Dead for all we know._ _No. Sophia was alive. She had to be._ I narrowed my eyes and prepared for a sharp descent, which came moments later. "You can't jump right away, but go ahead and go for it when we're about thirteen feet off the ground! It's a blizzard out there and we can't take any chances!" The pilot shouted over the roaring '_thump-thump-thump_' of the heli's blades.

The next few minutes were agonizing. The shack was slowly nearing us, but I couldn't jump just yet. After a few more moments passed, I thought to myself angrily, _Hell with it all,_ and jumped.

The cold hit me like daggers, but I trudged through it. The wind blowing in the opposite direction sure wasn't helping, and progress was slow. I almost wondered if staying on the helicopter would have been quicker, but this way, I felt like I was doing something. Doing something to get to her.

Sophia's POV~

He didn't kill me. I almost wish he had, the pain I was in. I had no idea how many bones I'd broken, and I think that if I knew, my spirit would break, too. Except, it was already beyond self-repair.

"Still not dead." Envy groaned. "How about you simply tell us your information about the 5th Laboratory, and we can get you out of here." the secretary suggested.

"I'm... telling... you-" I paused to let more blood flow out of my mouth, "I... don't... know... anything!" I wiped my mouth on my sleeve, leaning up against the back wall for support. Envy sighed and snatched his blade from off the floor, walking toward me. Messing with it with his fingers, turning it at blinding speeds, he muttered, "We didn't have to go this far, but due to your... _annoyance_, I really just want to get this over with." My eyes widened as I watched his nimble fingers flick the hard knife into a club hold.

He lunged, but it was sloppy, and I was able to move out of the way. The knife came down again, and I raised my probably-broken leg and kicked it out of his hand. "So you've got some spunk after all, huh?" Envy called out enthusiastically, pounding his foot on the handle of the blade on the ground, which was immediately flicked back up to his hand. "Too bad it's about to go to waste!"

Kimbley's POV

I was so close to it. Just a few more steps, and I'd be there. I'd break down that door and find Sophia. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a flaw in my plan, because right before my fingers could touch the wooden panels of the door, a blob of gravity-defying liquid appeared before me. Blinking as if the weird thing would disappear, I quickly pulled my hand out of the mysterious liquid.

"It looks like we have an uninvited guest. I'll take good care of you, Kimbley." the liquid told me. I blinked again. _How does it know my name..?_

The liquid shrunk into the snow, completely vanishing. Scouring the ground, I saw that the snow around me had tinted slightly blue. Blinking in stunned realization, I jumped back right before the strange liquid spiked out of the ground where I'd stood just a moment ago. I had to squint and hold a hand above my eyes to even see the thing through the blizzard, but I could see it disappearing again, thinning out across the barren wasteland. That's when I got an idea.

Fumbling through the fierce snowstorm, I made my way to an edge of the shack, finding something almost like a bar sticking out of it. Grinning, I used to give my the leverage I needed to get on top of the house. "That's not going to work. I'm a tad smarter than that." the eerily feminine voice called from- what do you know, right in front of me. The liquid suddenly flattened out across the shack's steep roof, causing me to slip off, landing back in the snow.

Spitting the stuff out of my mouth, I clasped my hands together and reached an arm out to touch the wall of the shack, but the liquid fell _right on top of me._

I couldn't breathe, and the inside of the liquid was starting to feel unpleasant to say the least. I scrambled to get out, but I wasn't making much progress. I was knew that soon enough, I would suffocate in there. Then this thing would let go of my corpse and run off somewhere, and someone will come and bury my body eleven feet under the snowy surface of these mountains. And after all that, no one will help get Sophia back home, because no one knows where she is.

But I do; she's ten feet in front of me, with only a stupid wall and a weird blob of stinging liquid standing in my way! _I guess that settles it. There is no way in _hell_ I'm going to die here._

I clawed my way, inch by inch, slowly peeling myself from the closing-in, strange thing. And eventually, I got my arms out. I pressed my shaking hands together, and reached out for the shack. My arm stretched and my fingers strained, and finally, it exploded.

The explosion blew back the liquid from me, and I was out for good. Breathing hard to make up for my lack of air, I looked up and saw two people. One was a tall male who held a knife, and was holding the other person up by their shirt collar. That other person was a girl, and she had slash marks all across her arms, neck, and face, and was bleeding a lot. Fresh blood even stained her jaw. Even with her eyes closed and red tainting her dark brown hair, there was no doubt about it being Sophie.

My eyes widened in horror. The strange-featured person looked at me in exasperation. "C'mon Sloth, you said you would take care of any unexpected guests! Geez, now I've got two idiots on my hands?" he whined, throwing his free arm up in the air to show his annoyance. Suddenly, he stopped and took a good look at me.

"Hey, I know you! You're the Kimbley guy! What a surprise. You'll be much more useful than this piece of trash." he remarked, literally throwing Sophia over his shoulder and walking toward me. I could feel rage burning in my eyes upon seeing what this person had done to her. I clapped my hands together and stretched my arm out in front of me to grasp the stranger's shoulder, and an explosion went off.

When the dust settled, the first thing I could see was the figure's face, grinning at me. I looked at the shoulder which should have been burned to a crisp. The bone and muscle were visible, and a red light flickered around the wound like tiny lightning bolts. Soon, the flesh was restored as if nothing had happened. I blinked in confusion at the sight. _A regenerating body, huh? What a strange thing._ I thought to myself in bizarre wonder. I took a step back and looked at the monster-like creature in the eye.

"What are you?" I questioned. "Envy!" he answered delightfully, his entire face portraying some strange happiness, right before his foot made contact with my face, and I was knocked back a few feet. I got back up, wiping a small stream of blood from my mouth. I took a step back and edged a few inches across the wall.

"Okay now, Envy. I'm only looking to get the girl back home." I murmured. "Yeah, I don't think so. She's got some info we need to destroy." Envy snapped. I stopped in my tracks. "Information? What, like Lab 5?" I inquired. Envy's expression stiffened. "Yeah that."

I found a half-smile on my face, and I chuckled softly. Envy blinked. "What the... what's wrong with you?" he demanded. I hung my head behind me. "Sophie doesn't know anything. But I'm sure she already told you that much. I mean, by the way she's all sliced and crunched..." I casted a glance at her tattered body. "...she must have spilled her guts to you." I murmured.

Envy looked at the girl he'd just thrown as if he was irritably waiting for her to come back to life. Probably so that he could just kick her ass again. "Well, if that's the case," Envy began with a heave of a sigh, turning to face me with a demented look in his eye, "I guess I'll just have to take you!"


	8. Chapter 8

Kimbley's POV~

_Crap._ Envy started sprinting toward me, his fists clenched and a wicked grin plastered on his face. I jumped into the air, avoiding his fists, when he suddenly stopped and flipped his foot in the air, forcing me to cross my arms in front of my face in midair, which didn't assist a soft landing. Stumbling to regain my balance, Envy started firing hits at me one after another, barely giving me enough time to block and dodge.

When I was finally able to find an opening, I brought my alchemically-charged hand toward his unguarded face. "No way, that hurts!" Envy exclaimed, hooking his leg across my arm, bring it down and swung his arm to land a punch at my face. Grunting, I threw my other hand to fight back the strong arm, inches from my face. I found myself face-to-face with a monster. With one hand crossed with Envy's left leg and my other hand fighting his fist, I could be fighting with both behind my back. And so, I did what everyone always screams at people on TV to do; I slowly brought my foot higher until I gave a strong kick to Envy's stomach, forcing him away from me and out of the push-fight. _Audience is pretty smart..._

Envy, after regaining stance, started walking a bit to the side of me, as if about to circle around me. I instinctively backed up against the wall, preventing him from getting behind me. Unfortunately, I didn't exactly think about the price of such protection. Envy raced toward me for another frontal attack, this time not giving me the chance to back out. As his fists flashed in front of my face, it was all I could do to focus on where the next attack was coming from. I didn't think about the possibility of doing what I did last time, shoving him away. _Remember why you're here._

I caught a lucky break when he struck a fist toward my forehead, presenting a very small gap of exit for me. Quickly taking advantage of my dumb luck, I ducked under the arm and raced toward Sophia, Envy fast on my heels. Thinking of nothing else to do, I clasped my hands together and touched the ground, exploding the dirt behind me, rocketing Envy away once more. I didn't try waking Sophia- there was no time and it wouldn't help anything even if she did wake. Somehow though, I just had to believe she was alive.

To put it very simply, I picked her up and, with one arm, held her against my chest and started for the door. Envy appeared right in front of me with an evil shine in his eyes. He flicked a blade from the band of his clothing, starting to slice away at the air between us, causing me to go back to avoid the cruel blade. I was just about to touch the back wall when a loud _crash _sounded from behind me, and the wall collapsed. Shots rang out throughout the three-walled shack as people in dark uniforms flooded the area, beckoning me into the helicopter I'd come in.

"Get in!" a familiar voice called; Armstrong. Without a second thought, I trudged through the snow beating down on the site toward the old helicopter. "Just you hold it!" Envy's annoyed voice shouted and he lunged in front of me, blade in hand. Flinging it wildly, he managed to get a few large slices across my arm and jaw before Armstrong intervened, beating Envy with her handgun as if it were a club, following with a determined kick to his torso, sending him a few feet away. Open firing, she yelled at me to get in the aircraft, accompanied with shouts from the old pilot to do the same. I immediately took the last few steps onto the metal, and before I knew it, we were in the air.

With the large door open, I watched as Briggs soldiers began driving Envy into snowy wilderness. With a large sigh, I set Sophia on the ground and sat down, leaning against some crates inside. Panting from the series of close-calls and tiring maneuvers, I casted the motionless Sophia a side glance.

Sitting up, I went over to her, sitting next to her still body. Brushing strands of rich, brown hair from her eyes, I found myself praying to a god I didn't believe in for her to live. I didn't know what all had happened to her before I'd arrived, but she was unconscious and had smears of blood covering portions of her skin and clothing, and that was enough for me to know for now. As for me, I was fortunate; I'd gotten away with nothing more than a few cuts and a headache.

As I regained composure with a sigh, I wondered why in the world I decided to come after Sophie. She was a soldier of an army which was supposed to kill me. Why did I decide to come to her rescue? Maybe it was because I'm part of the reason she ended up here. Still, it wasn't like me. The moment I knew that she was gone, I instantly started thinking about where I could find her. There was no hesitation in that thought, I knew that for sure.

I leaned my head back on the metal wall of the seat-less helicopter in thought. Looking at her again, I sighed. The door of the helicopter was gone- freezing winds blew freely in through the large gap. It was cold even for me, though I was so into thought that I barely noticed it. Taking off my jacket, I moved over and placed Sophia's head on my lap, covering the majority of her with the clothing.

Perhaps a few hours passed before Sophia stirred. She didn't quite open her eyes, but she must have somehow known it was me as she murmured, "So I owe you again, Kimbley?" I closed my eyes, just grateful to hear her voice again. Grateful as I may be, I put one hand over her eyes and muttered, "Shut up."

**xxxx**

Sophia's Journal~

_So... I woke up in the hospital... not something you'd necessarily expect after all the last thing I remember is going to sleep, what, two days ago now? No idea. But the doctor says I should regain my memory in a couple of days, so I guess we'll just see how that all goes down._

_ I'll get released tomorrow. The only reason they're having me stay over night is because they don't know how I'll react with the treatment, because the medicine is pretty strong and not everyone can tolerate it after some amount of time. But, whatever, I'm covered in bandages and am still having troubles staying awake during the day. The doctor told me this morning what all of my medical problems were, but to be honest, I can't remember half of them. Some amount of broken bones and something else, and once again I'm off work. Great._

_ It's pretty boring around here. My family stopped by, they were pretty worried. I guess they don't know what happened either, but my mom said something about me going missing yesterday. For some reason, no one knew where I was, even though I'm back. I'm kind of wondering who brought me back here, but no one has said anything, and I just don't feel like asking. I guess maybe I'll find out when I get my memory back. I hope._

Sophia's Journal~ A few days later

_Guess what? I have my memory back! Yay and darn; Yay I know where I was yesterday and why I'm so beat up, darn because I still don't know how I got back home. I must have fallen unconscious. It's kind of like a brain teaser no one knows the answer to. Oh, and I haven't seen Kimbley in a while. I wonder what happened to him; I almost always run into him somewhere, and he hasn't stopped by even though he knows my address._

_ In case you're wondering about how the treatment went, I had a minor issue with it and they had to give me the weaker stuff. It sucks; even if you're a rock-hard soldier like Oliver Armstrong on the outside, your insides are still weak and vulnerable. But, I'm back at my apartment and my stuff is almost all unpacked after sitting there for nearly a week. Apparently my door was gone when my parents came by... They called someone to come and fix the door, luckily all my stuff was in there... so far. I guess it's another unsolved question, I guess, because I know that when I got kidnapped, I wasn't at home. _

_ Somebody must have all the answers, and it's no one I have seen since I got back. I'm starting to think that Kimbley can clear things up for me..._

**Late again, sorry. I've been pretty caught up with the other stories I've got going, but enough of sorry excuses, let's cut the apologies so I can say what I want to say. I'm really, really happy that people are actually sticking with this story. I know it was going pretty slow, but I hope this last segment started off with a BAM, if you catch my drift. I'm also really grateful to all of my wonderful reviewers, and all of the subscribers and favoriters who keep me motivated. **

**Now enough emotional drabble, so I can UPLOAD!**


End file.
